


Attempts At Matchmaking

by afteriwake



Series: What Happens In The Aftermath [1]
Category: Sherlock (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-09
Updated: 2015-02-09
Packaged: 2018-03-11 07:54:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,827
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3319826
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/afteriwake/pseuds/afteriwake
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's been four months since the events related to Moriarty's return have been concluded, and things are slowly getting back to normal. When Molly confides in Mary that someone asked her out and she turned him down because she doesn't think she can trust anyone not to hurt her again, Mary decides to do her best to get the one man she would consider dating to see it's in both of their best interests if he starts a relationship with Molly. But convincing Sherlock to try is harder than it looks.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Attempts At Matchmaking

**Author's Note:**

> I finished series 3 last night (surprisingly, it didn't take two years like I'd predicted, just one) and I decided to write some post "His Last Vow" fic. It isn't _quite_ Sherlock/Molly yet, but it will be soon enough. This will be the start of another series (because I love them so much) and eventually there will be a double date fic because that was what I was originally supposed to write for my friend. But for now, enjoy Mary's attempt at getting Sherlock and Molly to do what's in their best interest.

Mary came into her sitting room and moved closer to Molly, who had been sitting on the sofa nursing a glass of wine. Mary had insisted on everyone coming over for supper once a week, and John had agreed with very little persuasion needed. At the moment, Lestrade was in the kitchen with John, chatting and cooking, and Mary had a fairly good idea of where Sherlock was but wasn't entirely sure. Molly hadn't been particularly happy when she'd arrived, seeming a bit distracted and sad, and Mary had left her on her own for the time being. But now she was concerned. Molly had made no effort to join in on the conversation and that was unlike her. Finally she sat down next to Molly. “Love, are you all right?” she asked.

Molly started just slightly and then looked over at Mary, giving her a small smile. “Oh, I'm just a bit distracted, that's all. It's nothing.”

Mary could usually tell when Molly wasn't being entirely truthful, and she thought that might be the case now, but to be honest it had been a very rough year and Molly had changed quite a bit over the course of that year. All of those who were close to Sherlock had not gotten through the year of Moriarty's return unscathed, but Molly had been particularly affected. From the moment Moriarty had made his presence known again to the fateful ending which had left Molly and Sherlock seriously injured everyone's lives had been tense as they wondered what on earth the madman would do next. Moriarty had decided to rectify his past mistake and focused on Molly this time to a greater extent than anyone aside from Sherlock. Mary had honestly been surprised that Molly got through the entire ordeal with her sanity intact. But Molly was strong, much stronger than most gave her credit for. For her to be like this was saddening. Mary reached over and grasped Molly's free hand. “Do you want to talk?”

Molly took a sip of her wine but stayed quiet for a moment before sighing. “Someone asked me out on a date today,” she finally said. “He's nice enough, I suppose, but I looked at him with suspicion because of everything that happened. I tried to figure out what he wanted by dating me, how he could use me. I think I'll look at all men that way because of _him_ and I hate it. I hate being lonely, being alone. But I don't think I'll ever trust a man completely again.”

Mary nodded, understanding the problem completely. Molly had been bound and determined to live a fulfilling life despite the fact that Moriarty had returned, and a few weeks after the message on the television screens she met a wonderful man named Arthur. Arthur had ulterior motives, though, and he'd been working for Moriarty. When it came time to use Molly as bait for Moriarty's trap Arthur was the one who collected her, and Arthur had been the one who had delivered the injuries to Molly's person. When she finally woke up from the induced coma she'd had to be put in she'd developed a serious case of depression. Mary had started to hope that now, four months later, she was starting to get out of it, but maybe that wasn't the case. “Maybe one day you'll be able to trust giving your heart to someone,” she said finally. “I mean, you do trust some men, right?”

“The only men I truly trust are Sherlock, John and Greg. You're married to John and I was never interested in him in the first place, I have no romantic interest in Greg and Sherlock would probably rather do a series of exceedingly unpleasant things then entertain the notion of getting into an actual romantic relationship with anyone, and I highly doubt he would make an exception for me,” she said, her voice taking on a slightly bitter tone.

Mary wasn't quite sure about the last observation of Molly's. Molly obviously had not seen Sherlock's reaction to her kidnapping, which had been a level of rage Mary had only heard about from John on one other occasion, when Mrs. Hudson was accosted by the Americans during the Irene Adler affair, and while it had been quickly tempered down into a low seething range for appearances sake she knew he was quite livid. John had told her the amount of injury Sherlock had inflicted on Arthur when he had gotten his hands on him. Sherlock probably would have killed him with his bare hands if Moriarty hadn't shot the man while Sherlock was fighting with him, and Sherlock had done it despite a gunshot wound to the shoulder among other injuries. And when the incident was over and they had found Molly he did everything he could to make sure she survived despite how serious his own injuries were. John had said when it looked like they very well could have lost Molly Sherlock had panicked. But there was more than that. Molly didn't see the way Sherlock looked at her when he thought no one else was looking, and while most other people treated Molly with kid gloves he treated her in a way that showed he knew just how strong she truly was. It showed he knew her well and cared about her in a way that he cared about few others. Mary was fairly sure if Sherlock was going to make an exception for any woman in the world it would be Molly. “Perhaps,” Mary finally said. “But maybe you'll find you're wrong.”

“He's never shown a bit of interest in me as anything more than a friend before,” Molly said before drinking more of her wine. “Why would he start now?”

“Maybe because he's a different man now, and he realizes that certain things in life are not guaranteed,” she said thoughtfully. “You can see the changes quite clearly if you study him. Whose to say he hasn't changed in that way as well?”

“I suppose there's always a chance, slim as it might be,” Molly replied after a moment's pause.

Mary gave Molly a small smile. “Tell you what. Let me talk to him, feel things out. I'll be subtle about it, I promise.”

Molly nodded slowly. “All right. But if he doesn't even want to entertain the notion of being in a relationship with anyone don't let him know I still fancy him, okay?”

“I won't, I promise,” she said, letting go of Molly hand and shifting to give her shoulders a slight squeeze. “You have my word.”

“Thank you,” Molly said.

Mary let go of her shoulders and stood up, looking for where Sherlock had taken off to. She double checked to make sure he hadn't gone into the kitchen while she'd been chatting with Molly, and when she saw he hadn't she assumed he was either in her and John's bedroom or he was in Ava's bedroom. She rather hoped he was in Ava's room or else they were going to have to have another talk about boundaries. She made her way to her daughter's bedroom and saw the door was partially ajar, and she was glad her hope had been fulfilled. She opened the door and looked into the room, spotting Sherlock sitting on the floor in front of the chair in the center of the room. He wasn't holding Ava but he was talking to her, and as she moved into the room more she saw her daughter on her back next to him, playing with a toy. Mary cleared her throat and Sherlock stopped speaking, though he didn't look up at Mary. “Did you wake her up?” she asked with a smile.

“Your daughter was wide awake and five seconds from crying when I came in,” he said quietly. “I felt it best to keep her occupied since you and John have your hands full with supper.”

“Well, I thank you for your consideration,” she replied, going to stand next to the chair. “And I'm sure she's absolutely enjoyed being regaled with the notes from her Uncle Sherlock's newest case.”

“Actually, I was reciting Treasure Island,” he said. “She can get case notes when she's older.”

“Really?” she asked, surprised.

“John said he didn't want your daughter to have a morbid preoccupation with death. I felt reciting something from one of the few stories I retained from my childhood would appease him.” Finally he looked up at her. “Do I need to put in my appearance at the table?”

“No, supper isn't ready yet,” she said. “But I thought perhaps we could talk. I'm worried about Molly.”

She watched his face take on a look of genuine concern just after a fleeting moment of something she thought he hoped she'd miss: panic. The idea that something could be seriously wrong with Molly scared him, which further proved to her that in many ways Molly was perhaps more important to him than anyone except possibly John. But soon the mask of concern was firmly settled on his face. “Why are you worried?” he asked.

“She said someone asked her to go out on a date with him today,” she said. His jaw clenched when she finished her statement and she took that as another sign that he would in fact consider making an exception for Molly. “She turned him down because she doesn't think she can trust someone not to use her again.”

“Well, while the chances are slim that she would be used a third time for such a specific purpose she is perhaps correct not to attempt to date again. It's safer for her in the long run,” he said after a moment's thought.

“She isn't the type to do well alone, though,” she said. “She shouldn't have to spend the rest of her life lonely. I mean, she deserves to be happy, don't you think?”

“Yes, she does,” he said quietly, turning his attention back to Ava.

Mary sat down on the arm of the chair. “Then make her happy.”

He looked right back at her, his eyes wide. “Me? You think _I_ should begin a relationship with her?”

“Yes, I do. I think it would do the both of you a world of good. And don't tell me you haven't considered it. I have seen the way you look at her when you think none of us are paying attention.”

“There are times I very much hate your level of observational skills,” he said with a scowl.

“So I'm right,” she said. “You have considered it.”

He quickly stood up and moved away from Ava so he could pace. “One: I am the absolute worst person in the world to be in an actual romantic relationship. I will only hurt her in the end and I refuse to do that. Two, even if I have considered it, and you had best not think of this conversation as confirmation, you and I both know she deserves better than me. She deserves someone who will treat her like she's the most important person in the world, and the chances are good that I would forget half our dates and not think to call and generally be someone who doesn't try hard enough to make her happy. Three: she's moved past fancying me. Even though Arthur was a violent psychopath who took absolute delight in inflicting serious injury to her he appeared to all of us to be the opposite of me. It was not another case of her settling for a pale imitation of me like she had with Tom.”

Mary watched him for a moment. “And I suppose you want me to rebut all those points?” she asked, crossing her arms.

Sherlock stopped pacing. “There's no point because you can't,” he said, mimicking her stance once he turned to look at her.

She held up a finger. “One: you have made enough personality changes since you got back from faking your death to make an honest attempt, and Molly is the most patient and understanding woman you know. If you chose to pursue her she would take things as slowly as you needed her to, let you acclimate, not make much of a fuss if you slip slightly every once in a while and she would do it all while showering you with affection.”

“I'm adverse to affection,” he scoffed. “It makes my skin crawl.”

“Are you thinking back to Janine?” she asked. “Because if you are remember you didn't actually care about her. The whole point of your relationship was to use her to get to Magnussen. You did it because you had to. And point of fact, you already let Molly get close. If it made your skin crawl so much you wouldn't have the smallest of smiles on your face when she's done kissing your cheek.”

“I don't,” he countered.

“Oh, you bloody well do. Observational skills on par with yours, remember?” Then she held up a second finger. “Two: you blatantly lied. You have considered it. But you're scared because you think you'll disappoint her and you don't want her to think poorly of you again. The only way you'll disappoint her is if you become a complete arsehole, and since you aren't that way often these days then you should be fine. And _because_ you've changed so much you actually are the type of man she deserves.”

“I'm still a bastard sometimes,” he said. “You just admitted it. What's to stop me from being that way with her?”

“That fear that you'll disappoint her,” Mary countered. “You say she should be treated well? If you date her you'll remember that fear and you'll treat her like she's a bloody goddess because you don't want to make her sad. It won't even take much work to do it. You'll do it on instinct.” Finally she held up a third finger. “Three: she just told me she still fancies you, despite the fact she thinks you'd rather go through a series of unpleasant events than enter into a relationship with anyone. She doesn't even think you'd make an exception for her, and yet she still wants to date you. You are on the very short list of men she trusts, and you're the only one she'd consider dating.”

“How short a list?” he asked curiously.

“You, John and Greg,” she replied. “That's it. John is out for obvious reasons and she has no romantic interest in Greg whatsoever. You are the only man on the face of the earth she'd consider dating right now, and I don't see that changing. She'd rather stay alone then attempt to date someone other than you, and I don't think she should have to. And I don't think you think she should have to either, not when you obviously have considered it.”

Sherlock stared at her for a moment before moving back towards the chair. He sat down in it, steepling his fingers in front of his face as he collected his thoughts. “Eventually I will hurt her,” he said after a few moments of silence. “I hurt everyone I care for in one way or another. I don't want her to be in any more pain, especially on my account.”

“She's already in pain, and being alone for the rest of her life will just prolong it,” Mary said gently. “If you try, if you get over your fears and you ask her out and you actually _try_ , that will make her happy. In fact, I think it would make her blissfully happy. Certainly it would make her happier than she was with either Tom or that bastard. Relationships don't always last forever, that's true, but they can last an awfully long time. And Sherlock, she would make you happy too, and you deserve to be just as happy as she does. But in the end, it's up to you.” She set a hand on his shoulder and squeezed gently. “I'm going to take Ava and we're going to leave you in peace to think, all right? Supper should be done in twenty minutes.”

“Very well,” he said.

Mary got off the arm of the chair and went to the floor, picking Ava up. “Come on. Your Uncle Sherlock needs to do some serious thinking, and I think you'd be too much of an adorable distraction,” she said to her daughter, who smiled back. Mary gave Sherlock one last look and then left the room, shutting the door behind her. Hopefully she had gotten through to Sherlock and he'd make a move towards beginning a relationship with Molly. And if he didn't she'd do everything she could to nudge them along. After all, the both of them deserved the chance to be as happy as they possibly could, and what were friends for if not to make sure their friends were happy?


End file.
